Twenty-one spellers from across the San Juan School District battled through eight rounds on February 8 before Adriana Johnson, a seventh-grade student at Albert R Lyman Middle School, successfully defended her 2017 title and was named the 2018 District Spelling Bee Champion.

Johnson earned the championship title with an impressive effort. The final word which clinched the win is “unpropitious.”

Second place is Kahryme Alvarado, a sixth-grade student at Monticello Elementary. She tripped up on “incongruous” after breezing through “translucent”, “conspiracy”, “grocery”, “purse”, and more.

Third place goes to Jessie Black, a fourth-grade student at Blanding Elementary. Black clinched the third-place award, spelling “celerity” in a tie-breaker with LaShantee Chico, Nate Redd, and Olive English.

Chico is a sixth grader at Tse’bii’nidzisgai Elementary, Redd is a sixth grader at ARL Middle, and English is a seventh grader at Monticello High.

The top three spellers advance to a regional spelling bee on March 8 in Green River. The winner advances to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The San Juan School District has sent numerous spellers to the national competition.

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